“Iran has the purpose to appear in Europe and EEU through Armenia”
“New possibilities have been established for the businessmen of Iran,” Gholamhossein Shafei, Chairman of Iran’s Chamber of Commerce, Industries, Mines and Agriculture, told 168.am, reflecting to Armenia-Iran trade and economic relations. He stated that currently Armenia-Iran trade and economic relations can’t satisfy the sides, which presidents of Iran and Armenia have also stated in their speeches in Yerevan.
He believes that there are lots of to-dos in this field both in Armenia and Iran, if the sides intend to use their markets with total volume, using them for an exit to other markets as well. “In the period of recent years, i.e. after Iran was unsanctioned, we were allowed to study each other’s field and possibilities, which was formerly impossible due to economic restrictions. New possibilities have been established for the businessmen of Iran and Armenia.
Existent issues, obstacles have been uncovered, which should be solved to deepen cooperation in the field. The most important condition for a businessman is reliability of the investment field, convenient conditions, reasonable taxes. In this regard I would say that there are serious issues, there is doubt towards reliability. Some Iranian businessmen have already invested in Armenia and they’re making use of the same possibilities as local businessmen.
This, of course, is a positive circumstance, however, there are taxes, customs duties, which are high for Iranian businessmen. Frequent contact between the sides provides the opportunity to raise these issues, there is no serious progress yet, but there is hope that Armenia and Iran will become irreplaceable partners in this field,” Shafei said.
According to the latter both Armenia and Iran may assist one another in many issues. Shafei considers that Armenian businessmen may make use of big Iranian market, which will bring big economic benefits to Armenia. It may gain, when Iranian businessmen start making serious investments in Armenia and transport cargo through Armenia, for which transit expenditures will be less.
“Armenian market is small, but Iranian businessmen may be represented here. Armenia’s geographical position is beneficial, and it can be used in favor of both Iran and Armenia. Iran intends to increase gas export volumes to Armenia, and to Europe through Armenia. Steps aren’t being taken to that end. Iranian businessmen may have an exit to EEU through Armenia, and the latter has taken some steps in this regard. From this perspective establishment of free trade zone on the border is important, where it’s proposed to create joint enterprises, production of which will enter EEU market with zero taxes.
This is a rather interesting perspective for Iranian businessmen. Iranians have certain representation in this market, however, this variant will provide the opportunity to work more productively in these markets and gain big benefits. He have great hopes with the Silk Road, by which we’ll have an exit to other markets as well,” Gholamhossein Shafei said.
In his words, these are expectations of the Iranian side, for implementation of which all necessary conditions have been introduced to the Armenian side and during continuous work they’ll be introduced, one may touch upon these programs’ being real after hindrances are removed. “For the time being we can’t clearly say which project will be implemented and which cooperation volume will be possible to reach. I hope, we can record big progress, in particular, when there is political will for that,” the specialist said.
Reflecting to conditions, which Iran may establish for the Armenian businessmen, Shafei stated that Iran’s economy is getting used to the new situation. According to him, Iranian Government got used to the regime of self-sufficiency under the sanctions, attempting to foster capabilities of local producers. He considers for this very reason Iran has become self-sufficient in almost all the fields.
However, there are fields, where Iranian businessmen can’t make production due to lack of conditions, mainly covering the fields of agriculture, healthcare, machinery. Armenian businessmen mainly function in these fields in Iran. However, those export volumes are small, as productions volumes aren’t large, maybe other businessmen avoid coming to Iran, as customs duties are high, but work is implemented to that end. Hopefully, with time all these issues will be solved,” Shafei said.
By Araks Martirosyan
